Jerry Rubin was a member of the Chicago Seven, a group of radical activists who were charged with conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Rubin was a veteran activist in California who organized the Vietnam Day Committee in 1965. He also ran for mayor of Berkeley and was a founding member of the Youth International Party (the Yippies). Rubin was invited to speak at the University of Washington while he awaited trial. The event was sponsored by UW Newsreel, the Radical Speakers Platform, and the University of Washington Philosophy Department. Rubin spoke in the Husky Union Room (HUB) ballroom. Admission was free. The event attracted over an overflow crowd of around 4,000 people. (Source: "Future on Trial" The Daily of the University of Washington, 01/20/1970)